Under intense pressure following the death of a teenage student at an out-of-control gathering in the city last month, the Victorian parliament found the consensus needed to pass a Bill which had languished before the house for more than a year as stakeholders failed to agree on the detail.

Even Airbnb acknowledges they are inadequate – while welcoming them as a deterrent to bad behaviour.

“Passing these laws is a good step, but not the last step,” said the short-let giant’s Australian boss, Brent Thomas.

“We look forward to working with the government on implementing these laws and taking further action against anti-social behaviour.”

Others were not so kind.

“The legislation is not worth the paper it is written on,” Tom Bacon, CEO of Strata Title Lawyers, told the Australian Financial Review.

“These regulations are the lightest feather of a touch, and do not provide owners corporations with any meaningful way of regulating the issues associated with short-term stays. I would not advise owners corporations to use these regulations; it would be a costly exercise and a waste of time.”

Barbara Francis of lobby group We Live Here, which represents apartment owners in 300 Melbourne buildings, accused the government of pandering to the short-let industry saying: “This week’s outcome must rank as one of the worst cases of politicking and back-room deals seen in Parliament.”

So what do these tough but feather-light new laws entail?

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal will have the power to stop the renting out of short-stay apartments that have been used for unruly parties and be able to fine guests up to $1,100 for making unreasonable noise, causing a health or security hazard, damaging common property or obstructing a resident from using their property.

Hosts whose properties are used for unruly parties could also be forced to pay their neighbours up to $2,000 in compensation.

However, the ‘crackdown’ fails to address several key issues identified by industry bodies, including the loss of residential housing to holidays rentals and a lack of licencing for agents letting homes on behalf of owners.

This week, Intercontinental Hotels Group CEO Keith Barr hosed down fears that global internet giants were taking control of customers, saying: “We are always essentially going to own the stay.”

Richard Warnick begs to differ..

If you thought the battles over online travel agencies and other intermediaries have been a struggle in the hospitality industry, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

The emerging battle—or more appropriately, the war—over who owns the customer relationship and data has been quietly raging for some time. I say quietly because it has been covert. But it is now becoming very overt.

As far as I can tell, the industry’s first “public” return fire came from Marriott International President and CEO Arne Sorenson during the CEOs Check In panel at the NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference.

He clearly understands the magnitude of the threat, but I’m not sure others do. And even in the case of Marriott, understanding does not seem to be translating into an education and action campaign with respect to their vast network of hotel owners and employees, at least not yet.

Let me provide a brutally honest assessment of where things stand on this critical issue.

With respect to Facebook, Amazon and Google, the war is already over, and they are victorious. They know more about their millions (or billions) of users than those users know about themselves. An interesting data point here is that Facebook has claimed that after a user has liked eight things—pictures, brands, etc.—they know that user better than their spouse.

While the hotel industry revelled in self-satisfaction over CRM data tracking what kind of pillow you like or what newspaper you prefer, these behemoths were accumulating mountains of intimate data on every single user or customer.

They know what you’ve bought and what you want to buy, when you bought it or want to buy it, what you like or dislike, where you are, where you have been and where you want to go.

While owners and hotel managers fight vociferously over which one owns basic customer data like name, address, phone and email, real ‘customer influence data’ is being shovelled out from under their noses by the gigabyte.

The only question that remains of Facebook, Amazon and Google is whether they will engage with the hotel industry as George Marshall did in post-WWII Europe, or as Attila the Hun did in the 5th century. As it regards Facebook, Amazon and Google, the hotel industry has been consigned to a strategy of hope and pray.

That said, many other players are also engaged in this war for ownership of customer relationships and data, and it is not yet too late to react.

Some, like Sorenson, have awakened to the threat to their business—loyalty, wallet share, intermediation costs and so on.

But the volume on the wake-up call must be turned up much louder, and the industry response must be much more strategic. Believing that our unique face-to-face contact with customers will offset the predatory practices of technology-based customer relationships just won’t cut it.

The foxes are in the hen house
Take Expedia, for instance. In 2017, Expedia invested $26 million in Alice—a SaaS technology company that provides hotels with an operations platform that allows hotel guests to use an app on their smartphones to request services—and helps the hotel effectively manage delivery of such services.

In addition to Alice, Expedia’s suite of data analytics tools includes a free service that aims to help hotels set their rates to command the most revenue, a meetings-and-events automated booking tool, a tool that helps hotel managers analyze guest review data to improve ratings, and a concierge tool.

Now why do you think Expedia is aggressively expanding these technology platforms for hotels, and why would they be willing to provide these technologies for free or at a below-market price? If altruism is your response, you fail the quiz. Here’s a hint in the form of an excerpt from an August 2017 Skift article announcing Expedia’s investment in Alice:

“Expedia’s interest in Alice suggests that the online travel company is curious about possibly providing more back-end software services for the hotels that use it to market and distribute their inventory globally.”

The fact is, Expedia knows everything about a substantial percentage of your customers until they enter the four walls of your hotel.

With these free tools and the addition of Alice plus GoConcierge, which is now owned by Alice, Expedia has entered the building with the ability to harvest all of your guests’ activities, preferences and data. The Trojan Horse is parked in your lobby, and you have welcomed it in.

Think about it. Expedia is a company that, without a single dollar invested in physical inventory:

takes 15 percent to 25 percent of every booking;

displays competing hotels in pay-to-play search order;

has a customer loyalty program, Expedia Rewards, that competes with hotel brands;

Oh, by the way, they won’t even share basic customer data like email and phone number even though it is your customer.

To what purpose do they do this, and to whose advantage?

You are being massively disintermediated from your customer, and worse, many are currently complicit in the process. And by being complicit in the process, you are accelerating the intermediation and optimising someone else’s business to the detriment of your own.

Of course, Expedia is simply one of many companies trying to capture and then intermediate hotels’ customer data—not simply to their benefit, but simultaneously to hotels’ expense. Companies like Priceline and Agoda are actively evaluating and/or pursuing similar strategies.

One further point to consider is that data is a flywheel—meaning the more data you have, the better the recommendations you can make. The better the recommendations you make, the more likely the customer is to respond to it, giving you more data to make better recommendations and on and on. This also provides the foresight to recognise changing behaviours as well. In other words, the problem gets worse as you go. It’s time to get off the train! The trip back gets more difficult the longer you wait.

It’s one thing to welcome symbiotic parasites into our personal biome, as evidence of the many millions of beneficial bacteria living happily in our gut. It’s quite another when the invitation is extended to an Ebola virus.

]]>https://www.accomnews.com.au/2018/08/the-flesh-eating-virus-accom-is-inviting-in/feed/2Crown’s jewel mired in legal action over million dollar viewshttps://www.accomnews.com.au/2018/08/crowns-jewel-mired-in-legal-action-over-million-dollar-views/
https://www.accomnews.com.au/2018/08/crowns-jewel-mired-in-legal-action-over-million-dollar-views/#respondSun, 12 Aug 2018 07:29:44 +0000https://www.accomnews.com.au/?p=32275Crown Resorts has launched legal action against the NSW government to stop a development which could limit views from its luxury hotel at Barangaroo on the Sydney Harbour foreshore.

Billionaire James Packer’s company launched a Supreme Court action against the government-appointed Barangaroo Delivery Authority this week after parties failed to reach agreement over the proposed heights of buildings on the Central Barangaroo project.

Crown argues new buildings planned for the site, which is adjacent to its development, threaten revenue due to a loss of sight lines across the harbour and to the Sydney Opera House.

Executive chairman John Alexander said Central Barangaroo, a five-hectare site designated as largely for public use and with a mix of commercial and residential building and a metro station, was originally intended to be “low density, low rise”.

Now the casino and hotel group fears building heights threaten to block views from the lower floors of a hotel proposed for levels 6 to 22 of its 71-level skyscraper Crown Tower.

The storm began brewing when the state government agreed in 2015 to build a metro station at Barangaroo Central and signalled it would allow a trebling of the amount of floor space that could be developed in the area.

The Barangaroo Development Authority has been wrangling with Crown and Lendlease over sight lines in the 28 months since.

Barangaroo Central has been mired in controversy since its inception, with accusations that Liberal and Labour state politicians have acquiesced to the wishes of moneyed developers and former Paul Keating has driven his personal vision for the site at the expense of its original concept.

Architect Philip Thalis, part of the team that won the initial design competition and was promptly sacked from its development, said: “Barangaroo is a demonstration of everything that is wrong in contemporary Australian city-making.

“Rampant privatisation, the weaknesses of the planning system and the failure of public authorities, our governments, to clearly understand what the public interest is.”

Developer Lendlease, which is building high-rise apartments in the same area as Crown, has also launched legal action against the NSW government, seeking an injunction to stop release of a revised plan for Central Barangaroo.

The lawsuits come after more than two years of negotiations, Lendlease saying legal proceedings were “never our preferred course of action and we remain hopeful of reaching an agreement with the Barangaroo Delivery Authority”.

Chris Johnson of Urban Taskforce, an industry organisation representing property development interests in the city, said investors were concerned legal action could result in costly delays for Barangaroo.

“It would be a very backward move if the central section redevelopment grinds to a halt for the next few years while legal battles occur,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“The NSW government must provide leadership to ensure the parties can agree on a way forward.”

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian says she had “full confidence” in the authority’s ability negotiate on behalf of the government and “protect the public interest”.

Barangaroo Central is due for completion in 2024.

]]>https://www.accomnews.com.au/2018/08/crowns-jewel-mired-in-legal-action-over-million-dollar-views/feed/0Every bad-ass housekeeper needs a loaded gun..https://www.accomnews.com.au/2018/08/every-bad-ass-housekeeper-needs-a-loaded-gun/
https://www.accomnews.com.au/2018/08/every-bad-ass-housekeeper-needs-a-loaded-gun/#respondSun, 12 Aug 2018 07:30:01 +0000https://www.accomnews.com.au/?p=32269A good housekeeper is the industry’s unsung hero. In a Spaghetti Western movie, they’d be the sheriff in town.

Your housekeeper must be committed to cleaning up your town – you need a bad-ass who will rid your property of scum, mess, filth and the foul stench of mediocrity. So, if you want your housekeeper to scare away nasty, stinkin’ germs, you need to make sure they have arsenal of lethal cleaning weapons on hand.

The biggest gun of all in a cleaning arsenal is the commercial vacuum. If your property was a saloon bar, you wouldn’t be too fussy about a bit of “spit and sawdust” on the floor, but a sparkling clean floor in a modern accommodation property is an absolute must.

A dirty floor is a huge turnoff for guests: an immediate red flag that accom staff don’t care. It also poses a health risk for visitors.

Studies have shown that a carpet serves as a magnet for all kinds of pollutants, contaminants, bacteria, and odours, including the possibility of nasties such as fleas, cockroach eggs, and dust mites.

A suitable ‘big gun’ commercial vacuum must be provided because regular vacuuming is key to any healthy, fresh and clean environment. An investment in the best quality and most suitable carpet cleaning equipment for your floor will also prevent wear and tear and prolong the longevity of your carpets, proving cost effective.

The good, the bad and the ugly

Raw power… Motor power might be the most obvious choice for a vacuum cleaner, but commercial vacuum experts claim that a strong design is often the most important feature to consider.

Quality… Never overlook the most basic machine parts of the vacuum: the strength of wheels, clips, and other plastic mouldings. No matter how much power it delivers or how good its air flow, a vacuum cleaner will not be any use if it’s out of action because its wheel falls off!

Uprights… May also be more effective in large open spaces such as function rooms, whereas they may be less suited to stairways or small guest rooms, due to weight, size, and manoeuvrability.

Canister… May not be quite as powerful (although their power has improved) but are lighter, more manoeuvrable and may be better suited to the size and space of your accommodation rooms.

Backpack models… These are very worker-friendly for stairs, but they must be frequently emptied. Recent versions promise increased productivity and remember they are more ergonomically friendly.

Cordless and rechargeable… These have the advantage of being able to go anywhere without the hazard of a trailing cord. However, they must be recharged often and have a limited user time.

Consider noise… Listen before you buy because an annoyingly high pitch vacuum can claim a low decibel rating on the sticker or brochure.

Filtration… Large and easy to clean filters equals simple maintenance and consistent performance. TIP: most commercial vacuums can be used bagless but always use a bag or you will have to replace (costly) filters more regularly.

A HEPA (high efficiency particulate arresting) filter will effectively remove dust, irritants, mites and filter to produce clean air. These offer efficient filtration to help remove the sources of irritation that cause allergies and asthma.

Hot water extraction… Think about an extension to normal vacuum cleaning, ask your supplier the advantages of including a hot water extraction system to your arsenal.

Automated vacuum cleaners… Predicted to be one of the biggest and most exciting housekeeping technological developments. A handy cleaning solution with smart features such as mapping out the room with in-built cameras, remote controls, and virtual wall features, blocking off areas you don’t want to be cleaned.

Attachments… The most effective vacuum cleaners do not just get their super power from a motor, but also from the variety of attachments offered.

Your choice of vacuum directly impacts your room turnaround time and for fast paced accommodations it is crucial to get it right.

There is a vacuum for every need so select the most reliable and effective cleaning weapon: one that can reduce costs, boost energy savings, enhance staff/guest safety, and increase productivity.

In the words of badass Clint Eastwood in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: “There are two types of people my friend, those with loaded guns and those who dig.”

What are your tips for choosing the best commercial vacuum for the job?

“Analyse. Look at the total area you need to clean, the time you have to clean that area, any obstructions or safety issues you need to consider. Once you’ve assessed what you want to achieve, talk to your equipment provider and work on a plan. It may involve a mix of machines for different areas or jobs.”

Backpack, canister or upright?

“Uprights do a great job on deep carpets and in smaller areas – but they can be difficult when trying to access confined spaces and have smaller dust retention capacity.

“Canisters are the ‘jack of all trades’; higher volumes for longer cleaning, increased manoeuvrability and the best ones are just about bullet proof.

“Backpacks are fantastic where there are large areas to clean, lots of obstructions to get around such as desks, chairs etc.

“You also need to consider if you need corded or battery machines. Battery machines are becoming essential if you’re looking to minimise OHS issues for staff and customers, avoiding dangerous cord trip hazards at entrance ways for guests and staff. Simply changing to a battery vacuum for these operations could remove massive risk from an insurance perspective.”

What (in your opinion) are the best filtration systems?

“Users need to choose the right filtration level for their desired outcome. Remember, just because a machine has a HEPA filter that is not a true indication that the machine itself is actually trapping all small particles.

“Talk to your supplier about the machine’s HEPA rating and what you’re trying to achieve. There’s simple solutions for all desired outcomes.”

What are the most environmentally friendly choices around?

“The lower the wattage – the less power you use! The other consideration is the lifespan of a vacuum.”

What are the latest models, and do you foresee any future industry trends?

“The big change we’re seeing is the growth in the battery machine market. They can provide users with massive time savings and labour. Being the single highest cost for most housekeepers and cleaners, these units can pay for themselves in labour savings within months.

“The other trend is the reduction in power usage for corded models.”

What should purchasers look for when assessing the quality/longevity of a vacuum?

“The first clue is the warranty. Furthermore, talk to the manufacturer and tell them what you want to achieve. Don’t choose based on the ticket price, do your analysis and calculate the cost over the life of the machine. The true value of a machine is more than just the ticket price – it’s the cost of power consumption, repair downtime, replacement frequency and of course the performance.”

]]>https://www.accomnews.com.au/2018/08/every-bad-ass-housekeeper-needs-a-loaded-gun/feed/0The world’s favourite travel brands revealed – and which Aussie makes the top tenhttps://www.accomnews.com.au/2018/08/the-worlds-favourite-travel-brands-revealed-and-which-aussie-makes-the-top-ten/
https://www.accomnews.com.au/2018/08/the-worlds-favourite-travel-brands-revealed-and-which-aussie-makes-the-top-ten/#respondSun, 12 Aug 2018 07:30:24 +0000https://www.accomnews.com.au/?p=32237Marriott is the world’s favourite hotel brand, Airbnb the most loved travel site and our national carrier the tenth best-loved travel brand globally, according to social media watchers.

The analytics platform NetBase this week released its annual Social Media Industry Report 2018 Travel and Hospitality, using social analytics technology to examine the most popular brands across five categories including airlines, car rentals, cruise lines, hotels and travel sites.

The report examines trends and overall performance of selected brands based on conversations across social networks, review sites, blogs, forums and news sites worldwide. Social mentions, reach, awareness and net sentiment are among the markers used to differentiate between them.

On the list of global giants, the appearance of Qantas as one the most discussed and appreciated brands is a pat on the back for the flying kangaroo.

“Social media plays an extensive role in how customers feel about travel and hospitality brands, and where they choose to spend their vacation time,” said the group’s chief marketing officer, Paige Leidig.

“Most consumers have a limited amount of vacation time and turn to social media for recommendations.”

The Top 10 includes:

Marriott – 1

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts – 2

Hilton – 3

Airbnb – 3

American Airlines – 3

Royal Caribbean Cruises – 4

JetBlue – 5

Southwest Airlines – 5

United Airlines – 6

Singapore Airlines – 7

Delta Airlines – 7

Cathay Pacific Airlines – 8

The Ritz-Carlton – 9

Hyatt – 10

Qantas Airlines – 10

Trip Advisor was judged the second best travel site after Airbnb, coming in at number 12 on the global brand chart.

NetBase argues that how customers feel about a brand directly impacts on whether or not they spend their holidays with it, as thousands of brands compete for their attention.

Comparing brands across conversation themes allows industry players to identify their strengths and weaknesses across a range of areas, from operations to web content.

The report also found that:

Airline brands dominated the social conversation for travel and hospitality brands in 2018, with 58 percent of the share of voice for all brands on the list – despite only making up 25 percent of the brands NetBase researched.

Hotels accounted for 33 percent of the top ten brands, and scored the second highest average ranking for net sentiment and passion (behind cruise lines).

Travel Sites accounted for ten percent of the conversation, with most of their conversations take place on forums and Instagram.

The research mapped each category using volume (number of conversations), passion intensity (how strongly consumers feel about a brand) and net sentiment (how consumers feel about a brand’s marketing, customer service and products) to determine its place on the list.

It also used a ‘Brand Passion Index’ – which provides a gauge of how the brand is received. For example, a brand with a low net sentiment but a high passion intensity is hated, whereas a brand with a high net sentiment but low passion intensity is liked, but not loved.

The $200 million Howard Smith Wharves redevelopment, described by Queensland tourism minister Kate Jones as a “key project” which will “change the face of our city forever”, sees work begin on its Howard’s Hall venue this month.

Designed by architects Woods Bagot, the 1100m2 space will boast uninterrupted riverfront views of the Story Bridge and city skyline.

The build is due for completion in November.

Howard’s Hall will accommodate private and public events from conferences, meetings, pop-up events and product launches to exhibitions, concerts and weddings.

It already has more than 700 events events booked through until 2022 and at peak times will employ some 350 staff on a daily basis.

“This is going to become one of the city’s most memorable spaces, set against one of its most heroic views,” says Woods Bagot’s build director Mark Damant.

“The panorama it offers is absolutely incredible: The arches of Story Bridge, looking back at the city, across to Kangaroo Point and down the New Farm reach of the Brisbane River.”

Another key component of the Howard’s Wharf precinct includes a new five-star hotel developed by the Deague Group, creator of the Art Series Hotels. The SJB-designed 164-room boutique hotel will open in March 2019.

Less than ten percent of the buildings at Howard Smith Wharves are new. The majority are repurposed heritage spaces which the new buildings have been designed to blend in with.

Howard’s Hall is intended to tap into the “industrial language” of neighbouring building with its exposed steel frame, a shed-like saw tooth roof, and walls that reform according to the user’s intent.

Adam Flaskas, director of Howard Smith Wharves, says the hall’s opening will play a major part in revitalising the precinct.

“Everything about this space taps into our ethos. It combines a down-to-earth optimism with a take on luxury that relishes in simple things done exceptionally, from the beauty of architecture and natural surrounds to good food, wine and community.

“This new lifestyle, dining and tourism destination will reactivate 3.4 hectares of Brisbane’s picturesque riverside, and Howard’s Hall is an integral part of that vision.”

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk says it will showcase the area’s history and unlock the potential of the “underutilised” riverfront site.

“Once complete, Howard Smith Wharves will become a vibrant leisure destination with public parkland, riverside dining and an exciting mix of entertainment and cultural experiences that will enhance Brisbane’s status as a New World City,” he said.

More than 80 per cent of the site has been allocated as public space, including activated open spaces and a $17 million landscaping budge.

]]>https://www.accomnews.com.au/2018/08/work-begins-on-capitals-face-changing-venue/feed/0In a field of out-there new hotels, is this Australia’s quirkiest?https://www.accomnews.com.au/2018/08/in-a-field-of-out-there-new-hotels-is-this-australias-quirkiest/
https://www.accomnews.com.au/2018/08/in-a-field-of-out-there-new-hotels-is-this-australias-quirkiest/#respondWed, 08 Aug 2018 02:36:29 +0000https://www.accomnews.com.au/?p=32191A unique tapering hotel complete with its own gin distillery, lavender farm, maze and amphitheatre is to be build in Victoria’s Yarra Valley.

Entrepeneur Martin Barnes has signed a deal with the InterContintental Group (IHG) to develop Australia’s second voco hotel in the wine region 90 kms east of Melbourne.

The new brand, launched in June with the announcement of its first property on the Gold Coast, is marketed under the tab ‘reliably different’.

THe 170-room voco Yarra Valley will be the first globally-branded upscale hotel in the region and according to IHG, will encompass a “quirky design that will stand out to anyone passing by”, rising to six storeys at one end and tapering to one storey at the opposite end. The development will also include 20 cabins.

It will open in 2021, with a host of unique features including an on-site gin distillery, a lavender farm, mirrored maze, an amphitheatre cut from natural ground and a provedore that serves and sells local Yarra Valley produce.

It will also feature the more mundane conference and meeting facilities, a gym, bars, family restaurant and kids’ entertainment facilities.

Mr Barnes, managing director of Barnes Capital, said: “As one of Australia’s premier wine regions, the last thing people want when they arrive in Yarra Valley is a vanilla experience.

“That’s why voco is the perfect fit, giving business and leisure guests a great, globally-branded, upscale hotel that guests can depend on, but that’s different enough to be fun.”

Abhijay Sandilya, IHG’s senior director of development for Australasia, said: “voco delivers a guest experience that stands out, with touches of charm and memorable, distinctive and dependable hallmarks, so we can’t think of a better partner for this new hotel than Martyn Barnes.

“The signing of voco Yarra Valley continues IHG’s ambition to take our brands into regional markets, including suburban micro-markets close to Australian capital cities.”

Aside from its famous wineries, Yarra Valley attractions include the Dandenong Ranges National Park, the Tarrawarra Museum of Art and the Healesville Sanctuary animal haven. Its also also the gateway to Mount Buller, Victoria’s best known ski field.

IHG has 48 hotels operating under four brands in Australasia, including InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express. It has another 22 in the pipeline, including Hotel Indigo Brisbane Fortitude Valley and Hotel Indigo Melbourne Docklands.

Tons of FREE marketing tools have exploded onto the scene, streamlining every single marketing task you can think of. From creating eye-catching visuals, to deep diving into your competitive set’s methods, to monitoring every single social media mention.

These free tools make it easy for hotels with minuscule marketing budgets to compete with the big boys.

Content Marketing

As we have said before, accommodation providers need to position themselves as the epicenter of their destination. To do this, they need to create content, blog posts, staff picks, etc. Here are a few free tools that make that effort much easier:

Even the smallest of mistakes in your hotel’s online presence can undermine a customer’s trust in you. So, catch them before you hit publish. Grammarly is a powerful tool that checks grammar and spelling for anything you write online, including emails, social media posts or comments, blogs, and even the content you create on your hotel vanity website.(Free, with paid premium options available)

Consumers today have minuscule attention spans, thanks to ever-streaming content online. Not only does every second count, but so does every word.

Whether it’s a monthly email you send to a targeted list or a blog post, the headline will ultimately determine the number of people who click.

Headline Analyzer scores your headline ideas and rates how effective they are. Use this to gauge how much your headlines and subjects will resonate with your guests. While offered by paid service CoSchedule, the Headline Analyzer is free to everyone.

A stunning photo is worth a thousand bookings. So, are any other visuals you create for your hotel marketing campaigns. Consider Canva as a virtual digital graphic designer. It offers thousands of fresh and modern templates for just about any type of visual marketing asset, such as brochures, posters, Facebook covers, email heads, and even infographics and PPT presentations.Customise with various fonts, colors, and your hotel images. (Free, with paid premium options available)

Piktochart offers free templates for eye-catching infographics that are meant to present facts and figures beautifully. Your sales team can create infographics to compare your offerings with the competitive set, whittle down the benefits of your meeting packages, or break down event costs. (Free, with paid premium options available)

Keywords are the foundation of every marketing and SEO campaign. However, Google isn’t the only place to search for keyword terms. Keywordtool.io will show you variations of your keywords to help you build content. SEO professionals consider this tool the best alternative to searching on Google.(Free, with paid premium options available)

Check your hotel’s web domain and page authority using this free link analysis tool. It will check how many links your hotel’s website is getting and from which source. Plus, you’ll also discover your most linked-to pages. Even better is that this tool will also give you this same information on your competitive set’s website. (10 free queries a month)

This amazing free tool uncovers all the digital ads that your competitive set has created. Not only will you see the actual digital creative, but also the dimensions, where the ad appeared, and when the campaign ran.

If a brand has purchased an interactive banner and rich media, those ads will animate right on the screen. Use this tool to see what creative your competitive set has out in the market and to get inspired by other brands. (Free, with paid premium options available)

Social Media

Perfect for group sales managers who want to gather social intelligence on prospects, Clearbit Connect connects to your Gmail or Outlook account and shows the LinkedIn details and activity of prospects in an email sidebar. Even better, it will provide the company’s details too. Including address, the number of employees, funding, and social accounts. (Free)

This search engine is a straightforward method of discovering and monitoring your brand’s social mentions. Specify which social platforms you want to search, and see details including top keywords, top users and sentiment. Their exporting function helps with end-of-month reporting, too. (Free)

One of the largest, and most popular hotel social media management tools out there, Hootsuite is an all-in-one platform for creating, curating and scheduling content, run social media ads, measuring your hotel’s social ROI and monitoring multiple accounts and keywords. This is one of the preferred free tools of hotel social media managers responsible for overseeing accounts for the restaurant, spa, golf course or sister properties. (Free for up to three social media accounts and 30 scheduled messages)

After spending hours collecting details and writing copy for your hotel’s next monthly newsletter or email marketing campaign, use PutsMail to see a functional, immediate preview of the email itself. This means you can skip sending countless test emails to yourself to scout out any edits. Just enter the email’s HTML and subject line and see a fully functional preview. (Free)

Want more insight into sending better marketing emails that get opened and convert? MailChimp’s Forever Free Plan offers a host of dynamic features, including rich contact profiles that track interactions with your hotel’s emails, and the ability to send email newsletters based on photos you captured on your phone.

One of the more popular and valuable services is the Subject Line Researcher. Type in phrases you’re considering as a subject line and you’ll see how well those keywords performed for other MailChimp users. (Free for up to 2,000 email subscribers)

Analytics

Analytics is dire to the success of your hotel’s online marketing campaigns. Cyfe allows you to monitor and analyse up to five widgets showing social media accounts, SEO, email campaigns, blog, website and more from one dashboard.The large collection of available widgets include MailChimp, Infusionsoft, Google Adsense, Instagram, YouTube, WordPress, Highrise, Google Analytics and Moz.This streamlined solution will bring all marketing performance data under the same roof, with the convenience of a single log-in. (Free for up to 5 marketing widgets)

Power your hotel’s email sign-up or RFP forms using Convertable, which analyses your web forms’ metadata to unveil crucial information on leads. Besides collecting the usual name and email address, Convertable will show the relevant keywords the visitor used to find your hotel, the visitor’s location, their operating system and device, which pages they visited (and how long they spent on that page), and how the visitor arrived at your hotel site (paid, organic, etc) in the first place.

This deep dive into the customer’s path will give you a better understanding of your audience and gauge the success of your marketing efforts. (Free)

]]>https://www.accomnews.com.au/2018/08/20-free-tools-every-marketer-should-know-about/feed/0Boutique $100m hotel for Sydney as study shows Aussies opting to holiday at homehttps://www.accomnews.com.au/2018/08/boutique-100m-hotel-for-sydney-as-study-shows-aussies-opting-to-holiday-at-home/
https://www.accomnews.com.au/2018/08/boutique-100m-hotel-for-sydney-as-study-shows-aussies-opting-to-holiday-at-home/#respondWed, 08 Aug 2018 02:39:57 +0000https://www.accomnews.com.au/?p=32183A family-owned former college in the heart of Sydney is set to become a $100 million short-stay boutique hotel.

The existing facades of the old ECA Graduate Institute at 55-59 Regent Street will be retained as the property is transformed into a 119-room hotel with six ground floor retail shops.

The site is adjacent to Fraser’s $2 billion Central Park development and is opposite Central Station.

Known as The Regent Hotel, it will be designed as an extension of the successful Spice Alley under the guidance of Sydney architecture firm Place Studio.

“New developments can no longer be a built for purpose development, but rather, must adapt to the an ever changing social and economic environment,” Place Studio’s James Alexander-Hatziplis said.

“The ground floor here has proposed just that level of flexibility with street fronting tenancies and the opportunity to bleed uses within the common circulation core of the development.”

The property is owned by Wang Management, a family-owned consortium which bought the Chippendale address in 1994 and operates two other hotels in Sydney, the Posh Hotel in Chippendale and the Sydney Boutique Hotel in Darlinghurst.

The development is the latest in a slew of hotels proposed for the NSW capital as new research shows Aussies are increasingly shunning overseas holidays in favour of quality hotels in metro areas Down Under.

Travel analysts Kayak studied the search habits of Australian holidaymakers, traditionally renowned for their penchant for foreign travel, to discover the most frequently-researched destinations.

It found 56 per cent of recent hotel searches were for domestic destinations, with Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane top of the list for the most popular destinations to visit for a short stay. Singapore, Bangkok and Seoul were the only overseas destinations in the top ten.

Melbourne and Sydney also made the list of favourite destinations for visits lasting more than two weeks, with Bali, New York, and Honolulu representing international contenders in the top ten.

The research also shows that while Aussies are down to earth about our choice of accommodation, they’re not prepared to slum it.

The most popular accommodation category is four-star, with 46 percent of Aussies searching for four-star hotels compared to 22 percent searching for five-star luxury – and a measly one per cent actively searching for one-star hotels.

Boutique hotels, accommodation with a spa, great design and luxury elements all feature on the list of desired amenities.

Aussies also have an eye on practicality, with budget-friendly, airport proximity and business-friendly venues all scoring high for desirability.

And they are most likely to research hotels on a Monday, with a browsing average high of 4.5 minutes on the first day of the working week.

]]>https://www.accomnews.com.au/2018/08/boutique-100m-hotel-for-sydney-as-study-shows-aussies-opting-to-holiday-at-home/feed/0Sheraton lures new crowd with sunset wine and cheesehttps://www.accomnews.com.au/2018/08/sheraton-lures-new-crowd-with-sunset-wine-and-cheese/
https://www.accomnews.com.au/2018/08/sheraton-lures-new-crowd-with-sunset-wine-and-cheese/#respondWed, 08 Aug 2018 02:38:05 +0000https://www.accomnews.com.au/?p=32141An iconic Sydney hotel renowned for its decadent high teas has extended its afternoon offering to include sundowners paired with “mouthwatering” nibbles and “artisanal” cheeses.

The lobby of the Gallery at Sheraton on the Park will transform in the gloaming hour each evening into an intimate wine bar.

Billed as the city’s newest after-work drinks destination, the Gallery will be offering a collection of exclusive fine wines from around the world, paired with dishes and cheeses to compliment the flavours.

Open from 5pm Tuesday to Friday, the Gallery Wine Room is celebrating its launch by showcasing the best of Adelaide’s The Lane Vineyard alongside a “gourmet grazing table” including some of the nation’s best cheeses, for $25.

The Lane’s national sales & marketing manager Ben Tolstoshev will also host a tasting event on August 23 featuring six of the winery’s most outstanding vintages.

Sheraton on the Park is the only five star hotel on Hyde Park and has long set the benchmark for classic hotels in Sydney.

A $40million overhaul of its 558 guestrooms and Sheraton Club Lounge saw the hotel awarded Best Redeveloped/Refurbished Hotel in last month’s TAA NSW Awards for Excellence.

It has won multiple awards over the last decade for the quality of its events spaces, including the Best Meeting & Events Venue in the 2016 AHA National Awards for Excellence and Conference Hotel of the Year in the 2016 TAA NSW Awards for Excellence.